Supplying
high quality medium and high voltage test
equipment to a variety of customers, HV TEST
(Pty) Ltd has become a leader in high
voltage test equipment.

Established
in 1985, and located in
Randburg
,
Gauteng
, HV Test has grown considerably over
the years. “That growth has made us
a major player in high voltage test
equipment,” says Managing Director,
Sean Goodwin, who went on to explain
that HV Test today operates in all
aspects of the MV and HV Electrical
Engineering field. “There are four
divisions in the company including
Product Sales, After Sales Services,
the Training School and the
Commissioning and Maintenance Services
division,” Goodwin continues. ”We
are known for our expertise in cable
fault and overhead power lines fault
locations, but are active in growing
the transformer and motor testing
aspect of the company.” He adds:
“We operate in a wide range of
industries. We supply high quality
medium and high voltage test equipment
and independent services to utility
companies, municipalities, mines and
petrochemical companies, ferro alloys,
the paper industry, and sugar
refineries, amongst others.”

Remarkable
Growth

HV
Test’s growth has been nothing short
of remarkable and has been driven, in
the main, by the firm’s high level
of technical expertise. “We have
prompt ex-stock deliveries and
reliable after sales service,”
stresses Goodwin. “And we strive to
meet the market requirements by
understanding what the customer
wants.” As a result, the company has
gained a portfolio of high profile
clients, which include Eskom, Sasol,
Transnet, Siemens and ABB.

HV
Test’s skills in Project Engineering
has been in the Mines and Utilities.
Its latest adventure has been to build
one of the largest and most advanced
Transformer test bays in the world at
Rotek Engineering at Rosherville,
Johannesburg
. Only the latest technology has been
used, with a very innovative building
design and a heat run facility for
testing Transformers up to 800MVA and
overvoltage testing up to 800 kV.

Travelling
Wave System

HV
Test does a lot of work with utilities
and has recently concluded a five-year
national contract with one local
utility for the provision of traveling
wave fault location equipment. This
contract is expected to double the
utility’s existing installed base of
fault locators, providing a vastly
improved reaction time for the
location of faults on its critical
transmission network. “It is a major
project for us,” says Goodwin.
Traveling wave systems are designed to
pinpoint the location of faults and
are important because the ability to
detect fault quickly means you can
react faster, which in turn, means
supply – and therefore revenue
generation – can be restored
swiftly. It also means preventative
maintenance can be carried out on
clearly identified portions of the
network, thereby preventing future
supply disruptions. “Accurate fault
location is vital,” says Goodwin.

HV
Test has been instrumental in the
installation of similar systems
throughout Southern Africa too, with
large installed bases in
Namibia
,
Botswana
,
Zambia
and
Mozambique
. “We have vast experience,”
admits Goodwin. “And we have
invested significantly in the staff
and expertise that is necessary to
support the large installed base of
traveling wave fault locators
throughout the region.”

It
offers training on the design,
installation, operation and
maintenance of these systems and even
provides commissioning and maintenance
support services where required. All
this is done through close cooperation
with product manufacturers to ensure
that the system is providing the
utility with the required return on
investment that initially motivated
the purchase.

"We
have prompt ex-stock deliveries and a
reliable after sales service. And we
strive to meet the market requirements
by understanding what the customer
wants" -
Sean Goodwin. MD

Safety

In
a trade where the words ‘high
voltage’ are commonplace, you can
imagine the importance of safety and
the need to address safety issues,
especially with an increasing number
of accidents occurring in the field.
“The Professional Training and
Accreditation division is now offering
regular courses in high voltage
regulations either at the client’s
site or at its HV Training Centre in
Randburg,” says Goodwin. The courses
are aimed at both those who work with
high voltage electricity (authorized
personnel), and those who are exposed
to, but not working directly with,
high voltage (responsible personnel).
The training course for authorized
personnel runs over five days and, for
responsible personnel, three days.
Both courses offer practical and
theoretical training and the costs
include certification upon completion
of an exam paper at the end of the
training session.

“Authorized
personnel should have their
qualifications updated every three
years with practical switching test
performed annually,” adds Goodwin.
For this, HV Test can visit the
customer’s site and provide an
assessment on the company’s standard
operating procedures, provide a
training module for switching
procedures and give tests for the
certification of authorized personnel.

As
if all this wasn’t enough, HV Test
also offers a unique one day course
catering for managers and directors to
determine the level and necessity of
training for staff members. The course
is designed to give an overview of
working with high voltage.

Courses
in Cable Fault Location, Cable
Diagnostics, On Line and Off Line
Motor Testing, as well as Protection
Courses, round off the schedule of
courses available at HV Test.

Left
to Right: Sean Goodwin, MD; Delyse Goodwin;
Ronald Goodwin

Tracer
Technology

An
innovation which the company is
focusing on heavily at the moment is a
tracer technology for cable leak
locations in oil-filled cables. The
new technology is very quick, taking
typically one hour per km when
pre-tagged – a substantial
improvement on industry norms to date.

It
has a 2m accurate detection of faults
in oil-filled cables (in good weather
conditions), non-intrusive detection
through concrete, turf and soil, and
actually minimizes damage done to
cables that normally occurs through
cryogenic freezing, as well as
minimizing soil contamination from
leaking oil.

Aside
from the specifications, the
technology is safe, cost effective,
competitive and proven, having found
16 faults with Eskom in the last two
months – a record number. The
savings in oil and the environment are
of major importance to Eskom.

Other
innovative products along the same
line include an Online Tracer Tagging
System, which provides accurate online
tagging of cables with tracer, and can
be achieved during the de-gasifying
process. Another product is the Leak
Detector System, which comprises a
response vehicle with detection
equipment capable of detecting 10
parts in 1015 (quadrillion) of tracer
elements and has GPS tagging of
samples for accurate positioning.

Key
Strengths

HV
Test prides itself on several
principle key strengths, such as good
technical ability and the ability of
its staff, ex-stock capability, prompt
deliveries, quick and efficient
back-up services, independent testing
services and consultancy, professional
and honest business relationships with
customers, a solid customer base, and
an efficient after sales workshop
service.